Dissidia Final Fantasy Requiem: The Truth After The End
by acrinn45
Summary: This story takes place after the ending of the Thirteenth Cycle comes to a close. After a few weeks of being home, the Warriors of Cosmos find themselves recalled to the World at War, but none know why. Everything seems peaceful, and everyone still has their memories. However, the nameless Warrior of Light, is nowhere in sight... This is a WIP, so there WILL be more chapters!
1. Chapter 1

Walking through the Old Chaos Shrine, he spots something that shouldn't be there. "Cloud! Squall! There's someone over here!" Tidus yells. "They're locked in some kind of crystal!" Tidus knocks on the crystal encasing a person. The walls quiver, revealing that there's a liquid inside.

There's a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You might wanna step back..." Cloud tells him. Looking at the prison in front of him, he says, "Judging from the thickness of the crystal, it's gonna take a pretty good hit to break it open. Luckily, I'm strong..." Grabbing the Buster Sword from his back, Cloud spreads his feet apart and swings hard, blunt side first. The crystal shatters and the liquid pours out, carrying the person inside out with it.

Cloud gives Tidus a small smile. "Having a big sword doesn't hurt, either," he comments with a shrug. Turning toward the person, he gasps and rushes to check on them. It's a woman, with black hair in a long ponytail and a tight white shirt. "Tifa!" Cloud exclaims. "Tifa! Wake up! Tifa!" Squall walks over to them, carrying a man wearing a purple suit of armor. He lays him on the ground, then reaches behind him and tosses a spear to the ground beside the man.

"I found him over there." Squall says, pointing to another crystal prison. "Even if he was awake, he wouldn't have been able to escape...he was hanging from his spear, which was stabbed into the ground."

"Guys! We found people!" Bartz yells, running toward them. Terra follows behind, using her magic to carry three more unconscious bodies. Firion walks slowly, carrying a woman with pink hair. "Oh, looks like you guys did, too. Who are these guys?" Bartz looks at the six people they found, feeling a vague sense of familiarity.

Firion, closing his eyes and bowing his head, responds, "They're our friends." Opening his eyes, he looks down at the woman in his arms. "Lightning..."

Tidus looks for the first time at the people they found, and cries out when he sees a familiar face. "Yuna!" He runs over to where Terra set her down, hoping she's okay.

Terra sits down on the ground, tired from using her magic for so long. Someone sits down beside her, and she turns to Cloud's concerned face looking at her. "Hey, you alright?" She nods, not wanting to worry him. Cloud doesn't buy it. "It's okay if you're not. There's time for you to rest, so rest a while. There's nothing serious going on right now...and if something does happen, I'll make sure you don't get hurt." His eyes stare softly into hers, sincere concern giving her hope and reassurance.

Embarrassed, Terra blushes and turns away. "Alright, I'll rest for a little while. Thanks, Cloud." She finds a corner and slumps against the wall, more tired than she thought.

Squall walks over to Firion and asks, "Our friends? So far, we've recognized four of them...are we sure the other two are really friends of ours?"

"Four? Do you recognize one of them?" Getting only silence as an answer, Firion continues. "Anyway, yes. They used to be our teammates...although I'm not too sure about Kain. He attacked us before the end of the last cycle. But they died...so how can they still be here?" He looks down at Lightning, who's starting to stir. Smiling, he moves a strand of hair out of her face.

Her eyes flutter open, and grow wide as she recognizes Firion. She grabs him in a tight hug, nearly causing him to fall over. "I thought I was dead, that I would never see you again..." she says, starting to sob. Firion just holds her, surprised by her sudden display of emotions. Lightning looks up at him, tears coating her cheeks. "Firion, you have no idea how afraid I was, being locked inside a crystal full of liquid and unable to breathe...I'm so glad you saved me! I've missed you so much!" She hugs him tightly, then passes out again.

Laying her down next to Terra, Firion tells everyone, "So they were awake when this happened to them, meaning that they could've seen who did it. I need to question Kain when he wakes up, but I need to rest first...wake me up in an hour." He stumbles over to the wall beside the stone throne and is asleep before he hits the floor.

"He needs a lot more than an hour," Cloud says, shaking his head. He turns to Tidus and Bartz. "Firion's been fighting and scouting for nearly three days without any rest...so no sparring, no jokes, no games. Just let him sleep. Understand?" They both nod, and he stands up. "Good. I'm gonna try to find the others. Squall's in charge." Resting the Buster Sword on his shoulder, Cloud walks off towards the woods surrounding the Shrine. With luck, he'd find Onion Knight and Zidane close by. Cecil went off to scout the rest of the woods while the others made camp in the Shrine.

The last thing we need, Cloud thinks gloomily, is more people unconscious...because I can't defend them all.


	2. Chapter 2

Bartz looks up at the sound of footsteps. "Hey! It's Zidane and Lunith!"

"Bartz!" Zidane waves and grins. He limps over to him and sits down heavily. Lunith the Onion Knight trips and falls, Tidus barely catching him before he hit the ground. Crossing his arms, Squall stares at Zidane.

Zidane scratches the back of his head, embarrassed. "We thought it would be a fun idea to wait in the trees until Cloud came to meet us, like he said he would. Then we would jump him, taking him by surprise!" Smiling defeatedly, he continues, "Obviously, he wasn't surprised...or amused." Suddenly, there's a large explosion from the woods, startling everyone present, even the sleeping ones.  
Lightning bolts upright and screams, the sound obviously bringing back bad memories. Firion, still shocked by the sudden awakening, rushes to her and holds her tightly. "Shh, you're fine, Light. You're safe, everything's fine..." Another explosion shakes the earth, and Lightning buries herself in Firion's chest. Looking up at Squall, he yells, "Go! Find out what's happening! I can protect the camp!" Squall nods, and races off towards the woods. Around Firion, the newly-risen Vaan and Kain race to follow the lion-hearted youth into battle. Tidus starts off after them, but he stops after a few steps. He walks to Yuna's side, and kneels beside her, ready to spring up and protect her.

Catching Firion's look, he grins and says, "You didn't get your full sleep. I'm here to cover your slack, Rosebud." He winks, and looks down at Yuna. Bartz helps Zidane and Lunith lay down with Tifa and Laguna, then positions himself in front of them. He summons the Warrior of Light's shield and sword, and stands ready for a fight. Firion can't help but feel thankful for his friends staying with him. There's no way he has the strength to be much protection to this group.

"EWWW! Look at the big, strong men protecting their pretty little prizes!"

Kefka, the twisted clown, floats down and touches onto the ground. Seeing Lightning hiding against Firion, he cackles. "Well, what's this? The female soldier can't handle a little noise?" When she doesn't pay him any attention, he frowns. "Hey, I'm TALKING to you! The nerve of this girl...she didn't used to be like this! Maybe it was the preservation chamber incident..."

"What do you know, fiend?" Firion yells. Lightning's sobs begin to fade away, and she looks up at him.

"Oh, calm down! It's not like we had anything to do with that...what HE did was cheating. CHEATING, I say!" The clown turns back to Firion, and actually shows sympathy. "Usually, I don't feel sadness or pain for anyone...but this one time is an exception. Since this is a 'special' occasion, I'll tell you what happened. I watched him put each of these six into 'preservation chambers', which I guess kept them alive without us knowing. However, she was the only one that woke up during the procedure. She panicked when she found herself up to her eyes in water, and she began drowning. He started banging the wall of the crystal, which would send shocks through the water while it was still hooked up. He must've banged on it about a dozen times before she finally fell unconscious...but apparently, it's left it's mark on her."

Firion looks down at Lightining, tears in his eyes. "Oh, Light..."

She looks down. "I told you, I thought I was dead...I thought I had been drowned or shocked to death..." Lightning looks back up at him, her eyes full of tears again.

Kefka cackles again. "Woo, boy! She really HAS been changed! Now she's all teary and emotional!" Seeing Firion glaring at him, he grins. "Uh-oh, looks like someone's grumpy. C'mon! I've been bored for HOURS! Fight me!"

Firion's glare turns cold. Slowly, he stands up, facing the clown. Lightning grabs his shoulders, trying to drag him back down to the ground. "No, Firion, please. Don't do this. You're weak, you need rest. Please, ignore him!" But she can tell by the look on his face that it's useless.

"All RIGHT!" Kefka yells excitedly. "Bring it on! Show me what you've got!"

The liegeman smiles darkly. "With pleasure."

Sprinting forward, Firion grabs his bow off his shoulder. Kefka laughs and fires dozens of bolts of fire and lightning that home-in on Firion, who dodges with ease. He jumps over a scattered ice attack, readying an energy arrow. The harlequin lets loose a massive fireball, which gets ripped through by a bolt of energy. With the fireball gone, Kefka can see that his target is missing, too!

There's a poke at his back, and Firion's voice says, "I won't kill you, because I have no reason to. But I want you gone. Now." Kefka jumps away, startled. Whatever he's about to say is lost, due to Firion's sword pointing into his throat. Glaring, the clown fades and disappears.

"Firion!" Tidus yells, drawing the liegeman's attention.

Screams echo across the Shrine. _I've led us straight into an ambush..._Firion thinks dejectedly, watching as four more villains attack his party.


	3. Chapter 3

In the woods surrounding the Chaos Shrine, a large battle's broken out between the warriors of harmony and disorder. On the far side of the newly-made clearing, Squall and Cloud finish up a fight against Kuja and Garland, although it's clear they'll be back up in a matter of time. Sephiroth tackles Cloud out of nowhere and drags him away, leaving Squall alone to assist his comrades. Looking around, Squall spots Cecil across the clearing, being cornered by Exdeath. He races across the clearing, exploding a ring of energy around him and sending Exdeath flying away, down for the count. Cecil turns around to find yet another villain entering the clearing: the Cloud of Darkness, raising her arms, and sending a giant wall of particle energy straight toward him. Cecil punches through the wall with shadow strength, then changes to paladin and sends a wave of light straight at the Cloud of Darkness.

Kain lands next to Cecil, but holds a hand at his friend's greeting. "There's no time for talk now, Cecil. We must withdraw from here and fall back to our allies!" The paladin nods, then relays the directions to Squall, who runs and grabs Vaan. They run back towards the Shrine, and he follows close behind. Kain looks over at Cloud, who's fighting hard against his nemesis. "Cloud! We need to hurry back!"

Cloud catches a blow on the broad side of the Buster Sword, then kicks Sephiroth back a few steps. Readying his sword, he yells, "Then get moving! I'll follow, soon as I'm done here." The two eternal rivals lock glares again and launch back into a fury of blocks and blows. Unable to do much else, Kain dashes off to the Shrine, praying he's not too late.

Upon clearing the trees, he's met with pure chaos everywhere. Warriors are fighting each other all over the place, while others lie helpless against the walls. Firion and Lightning are standing back to back, facing Ultimecia and the Emperor by the throne of the Shrine. Bartz, Zidane, Tidus, Cecil, Vaan, and Squall are holding off the Cloud of Darkness, Exdeath, Golbez, and Kefka from their fallen companions. Yuna, Laguna, Luneth, and Tifa are still out cold, and Terra looks lost. Kain whips around and finds Garland leaping at him, his tool morphing into a massive hammer. Out of nowhere, an orange and black streak tackles him into a tree. The newcomer lands on the ground and stands up straight, resting his sword in the ground by his feet.

"Jecht..." Kain breathes a sigh of relief.

Jecht waves at him, grinning. "Hey there! Looked like you could use a li'l help, so I dropped in. Oop, he's gettin' back up...we can talk later!" He rushes to Garland, dodges a hammer blow, and slashes him up into the air. Kain turns to see Kefka, Exdeath, the Cloud of Darkness, and Golbez close in on Terra, all their previous targets beaten and on the ground. Kain leaps high into the air, landing in front of the girl. Looking past his new challengers, he sees Firion kneeling on the ground, next to an unconscious Lightning and forced to face both the Emperor and Ultimecia alone. The dragoon swears, knowing there's no way he can beat them all and save his friends. If only I had Cloud and Jecht by my side...maybe I could pull off a victory.

"RAIN DOWN!" Meteors pummel the four enemies in front of Kain, crashing them into the ground unconscious. There's a blur overhead, and the Emperor gets swept up in a whirl of slices and slashes. He's launched straight up, and lands on the ground hard. Ultimecia turns to face the attacker. Firion and Kain both breathe one word:

"Cloud."

Cloud's standing there, his eyes glowing and a blue mist around him. He's no longer holding the Buster Sword; instead, he's holding a transparent white-and-blue blade that pulses with energy and is greater in size than it's counterpart. The soldier levels his gaze at Ultimecia, tightening his grip on the Ultima Weapon.

The witch snarls at him. "Your past still haunts you! How could you possibly - "

"I've made my peace." Cloud says simply. "And it's about time you make yours." She screams, sending hundreds of magic swords flying toward Cloud. Cloud slams his sword into the ground in front of him, sending a wave of energy rushing forward to meet the swords. They scatter, and he dashes up to Ultimecia. In a panic, she concentrates a strong time bind around him, but he's gone before it's finished. Flipping over her, Cloud twists in mid-air and slams her into the ground, knocking her out cold. He lands, then swings the Ultima Weapon onto his shoulder. The mist fades away, and the sword returns to being the Buster Sword. "Your tricks can't stop me." Cloud says, turning to the Emperor rising from the ground, bloodied. He grunts and kicks the villain in the chest, sending him across the room.

Firion looks up at his friend. "Cloud..."

Without turning around, Cloud says, "Sorry I'm late. I got...held up." He walks over to Terra, taking her hands. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Terra responds, relieved that the fight's over. She smiles warmly at the soldier. "Thanks for saving us. Oh, your friend looks like she's waking up!" Pointing at Tifa, Terra turns to get out of Cloud's way. Watching as he moves to be by her side, the girl feels a small sadness in her heart. _What is this? It's not like Cloud and I...we were never, I mean...he DID save me quite a few times, but that doesn't mean..._ Cloud looks up at her, catching her look. After a few seconds, he smiles and looks back down at Tifa, who's starting to sit up. Terra blushes, then says to herself, _Well...maybe I DO like him...I mean, he IS handsome, and strong...and kind..._

Groaning, Tifa rubs her neck. She feels hands on her shoulders, and she looks up to see Cloud looking at her with concern on his face. "Cloud!" He falls back as Tifa leaps at him and grabs him in a hug. "I remember everything now..." Tifa says, resting her head on his chest. "I remember you, our home, our friends...even how you saved me here, even though we were on opposite sides. You must've remembered everything, and I didn't even recognize you! Oh Cloud, I'm so sorry!" She starts crying heavily, unable to hold back her emotions. Cloud wipes her tears away with his hand.

With sadness in his voice, Cloud says, "Tifa...stop. Don't cry for what happened back then. What matters is the here and now. Who cares what's happened up until now? It doesn't mean anything anymore." Surprised, Tifa looks up at him. "I was so wrapped up in promises I couldn't keep that I lost sight of the present...and all hopes for the future. While everything that's happened was important...it's served it's purpose. There's no sense in worrying about it now, and there's no place for doubts." Cloud smiles, and Tifa sees something she hasn't seen in his eyes in a long time: confidence. "Since I put the past behind me, I've been stronger, faster, and I can think clearer...and I've remembered a couple of spells I'd forgotten."

"Cloud...?" Tifa's confused by this new Cloud, this happy, take-charge man without a doubt in his mind. _He certainly isn't the man I know..._

"I'm sorry, I must be worrying you. This really is me talking here. Finding peace has also helped me express myself better." Cloud chuckles, sitting up. Tifa gets pushed into a sitting position as well. With a sigh, he looks into her eyes. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately...and my life really needed to change." He takes her hand in his, and leans in closer. Tifa goes to kiss him, but Cloud moves and kisses her on the cheek. Pulling away, he's hurt by the pain and confusion in Tifa's eyes. "Tifa...this is one of the things I've gotta change. I've been trying to win you over for years, and you never noticed. Everything I did - following you to Mount Nibel, joining Shinra, trying out for SOLDIER, helping you and the others with AVALANCHE - it was all to impress you. I wanted you so bad, and you kept turning the other way." As she starts to say something, Cloud holds up a hand to stop her from speaking. "Please, let me finish. The whole time, the feelings between us were one-sided. You only cared about me when I was fighting Kadaj and trying to get the children back. I've been there for you, I've saved you over and over again...only once did you have a reason not to thank me, when your memory was gone, and it was that one time that you DID thank me. I've done my share to help the friends I've made here, and I've gotten more help and support than I ever got back home. I'm sorry, but I'm done trying..." Cloud stands up and walks away, blinking back tears.

Tifa, crying again, gets up to follow him. Yuna stops her, saying, "I think it's best for both of you to have some time apart. Maybe it'll give you both some time to process what just happened."

Kain goes to follow Cloud, but a hand grabs his shoulder. "Relax, I got this." Jecht, back from his fight, pats the dragoon on the back. "I know a thing or two about relationship issues...of course, mine is a father-son thing, but I think it'll still work." Jecht follows the young swordsman, hoping he knows the right words to say.


End file.
